The present invention relates to knee support devices, and more particularly to a knee brace device intended to stabilize the patella in a manner useful in the treatment and diagnosis of extensor mechanism problems of the knee, including patellofemoral chondromalacia, patellar ligament tendonitis and Osgood-Schlatter's disease of the knee.
It is well known that individuals frequently develop various pathological problems with their knees, particularly when these individuals are active in physically strenuous endeavors such as athletic activities, e.g. contact sports and jogging. The most commonly occurring problems relate to excessive compression forces, abnormal patellofemoral motion stretching or tearing of the various knee ligaments, injury to the cartilaginous articular surfaces of the knee joint and fractures.
Patellar subluxation or abnormal and undesirable movement of the patella, laterally, relative to its normal up and down movement in the vertical tract defined by the trochlea can precipitate the onset of chondromalacia or aggravate existing chondromalacia of the patella. Related pathological conditions of the knee which commonly occur are patellar ligament tendonitis, patellar tendon tendonitis and Osgood-Schlatter's disease.
Also, operative procedures of the knee, particularly arthroscopie procedures, are especially painful, and post-operative knee bracing, particularly with patella stabilization, tends to diminish the pain and improve the operative result.
As noted, problems peculiar to the extensor mechanism apparatus of the knee comprise only a portion of all common problems of the knee, and several unrelated or partially related problems of the knee may occur simultaneously, particularly in individuals having loose ligaments, when engaged in relatively strenuous activities, such as athletic activities involving the knee.
Others have devoted attention and proposed various knee braces and supports directed to general problems of the knee. For example, Spiro, U.S. Pat. No. 3,473,527; Lehman, U.S. Pat. No. 3,804,084; and Moore, U.S. Pat. No. 3,853,123, have proposed various knee support, brace, and knee splinting devices intended to restrain the knee to prevent normal knee flexion or movement. Such devices are directed generally to the problem of immobilizing the knee as a whole, and do not provide knee bracing during normal knee flexion and extension. Nirschel, U.S. Pat. No. 3,926,186 and Stromgren, U.S. Pat. No. 3,945,046, propose other muscular and flexible knee supports. Nirschl's apparatus, however, is not designed to provide medial-lateral stabilization of the patella and is inherently incapable of performing a dynamic bracing function for the knee. Stromgren's apparatus, on the other hand, is directed to the general problem of providing stability to the medial knee ligament complex. Detty, U.S. Pat. No. 4,084,584 discloses a simple knee sleeve device which includes a pad and which is capable of providing limited, static patellar bracing when, for example, the knee is passive, i.e., when the knee is not in motion or when the knee in a single position or within a narrow range of positions. Barlow, U.S. Pat. No. 4,250,578 discloses a protective knee support apparatus. The Applicant herein, by U.S. patent application Ser. No. 949,121, filed Oct. 6, 1978, for a Dynamic Patellar Brace, now abandoned; Continuation application Ser. No. 153,708, filed May 27, 1980 for Dynamic Patellar Brace, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,296,744 has provided a patellar brace useful for both diagnosis and treatment of patellar subluxation.